Nicollet Mall

Nicollet Mall is a twelve-block portion of Nicollet Avenue running through downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It is the shopping and dining district of the city, and also a pedestrian and transit mall. Along with Hennepin Avenue to the west, Nicollet Mall forms a cultural and commercial center of Minneapolis.

Several notable Minneapolis buildings line the Mall, notably the IDS Center, the former Dayton's flagship store (now Macy's), Orchestra Hall, and the Hennepin County Library. On Thursdays during the summer, the Nicollet Mall hosts a farmers' market while in the winter the Holidazzle Parade, now branded "Holidazzle Village", are hosted in the Mall.

The first commercial district in Minneapolis centered on the intersection of Nicollet and Hennepin Avenues, an area known as Bridge Square and later the Gateway District. As the city grew and the area became more congested, businesses started moving south from Washington Avenue.

By the end of the 19th century, Nicollet Avenue had defined itself as the city's primary shopping street, as department stores such as Powers Dry Goods, Donaldson's and Dayton's all opened on this stretch. Elizabeth Quinlan, the first woman clothing buyer in the country, opened her store in the Young–Quinlan Building, also on Nicollet.

Starting in the mid-20th century, American shopping habits were changing with shopping areas moving to suburbs. Southdale Center, the nation's first modern enclosed shopping mall, opened in neighboring Edina in 1956. It was developed by the Dayton Company, which also opened a branch of their downtown department store in the mall. In response, several efforts were undertaken in order to help downtown compete for retail. One was the construction of the renowned skyway system; the second was the creation of Nicollet Mall.

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